Software licensing and licence management for Microsoft, VMware and business software
Software licensing software tracks what you run against the licences you own, counted per user, per device, per core or by subscription. Arke Technologies, in Johannesburg, supplies Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace licences and manages whole estates, from Windows Server to VMware, for South African organisations, public bodies and schools: compliant, audit-ready and right-sized.
Software licensing software and licence management, explained
Software licensing software, usually called software asset management (SAM) tooling, discovers what is installed and who is signed in, matches it against the licences you own and flags the gaps: unlicensed installs, idle subscriptions and renewals coming due. Tooling alone does not make you compliant. Licence management is the discipline around it: knowing the rules of each licence, buying the right type, assigning it, reclaiming it when people leave and proving compliance when a vendor asks.
We run that discipline as part of our business software service, using your device-management and admin-centre data (Microsoft Intune, the Microsoft 365 admin centre, the Google Workspace admin console and your hypervisors) as the source. If you are a software company that needs licensing software to issue keys and subscriptions to your own customers, that is a product build; see SaaS product development.
Licensing Microsoft: Microsoft 365, Office 365 and Windows
Licensing Microsoft (often spelt "licencing Microsoft" in South Africa) is where most organisations overspend or fall out of compliance, because the rules change often.
- Microsoft 365 and Office 365 (O365). Business plans cover up to 300 users: a Business Basic licence gives web and mobile apps with email; Business Standard adds the desktop apps; Business Premium adds security and device management. Enterprise plans have no user cap, and an E3 licence (Office 365 E3, or Microsoft 365 E3, which adds Windows Enterprise and Intune) suits larger organisations. Microsoft O365 licensing can be mixed, so not every user needs the same plan. See Microsoft 365 licensing, migration and management.
- Teams licence. Since 2024 Microsoft has sold enterprise suites without Teams for new subscriptions, so check whether an E3 offer includes Teams or needs a Teams Enterprise licence alongside it; Teams Phone is a further add-on. See Microsoft Teams, VoIP and business telephony.
- Windows licence. Windows 11 Pro (Win 11 Pro, or Windows 11 Professional) is the business edition: it joins a domain or Entra ID and includes BitLocker encryption, which Windows 11 Home lacks (see Server Hub's Windows 11 Pro versus Home (opens serverhub.co.za) guide). A Windows OS licence usually arrives OEM with the PC; retail and volume upgrades cover the rest. Windows 10 reached end of support on 14 October 2025, so Windows 10 Pro machines now need an upgrade, a replacement or paid Extended Security Updates.
- Office apps. A Microsoft Word licence on its own is rare now: Word, Excel and Outlook come with Microsoft 365 plans or with a perpetual MS Office licence.
- Project and Visio. Microsoft Project and Visio have their own per-user plans, and most organisations need them only for planners and diagram authors, so we license those roles rather than everyone.
For Google's side, see Google Workspace licensing, migration and management.
Microsoft volume licensing and enterprise agreements
Microsoft volume licensing (MS volume licensing) lets an organisation buy many licences under one agreement, with rights that retail boxes lack, such as reimaging and, with Software Assurance, upgrades. Much of Microsoft's volume buying now runs through subscriptions under the Microsoft Customer Agreement, bought monthly or annually; the largest organisations sign an Enterprise Agreement, which is what most people mean by a Microsoft enterprise licence; and government and education buyers have agreements with their own terms. Keys and downloads for older agreements sit in Microsoft's volume licensing portal (the VLSC), much of which Microsoft has moved into the Microsoft 365 admin centre.
Buyers also ask whether a supplier has a partnership with Microsoft. What protects you is simpler to check: every licence is genuine, comes from an authorised channel with a valid South African VAT invoice, and is registered to your organisation, not to us.
What licences cost, and what drives the price
We do not publish licence prices on this page, because vendors change them and the rand moves. Current rand prices for Windows, Office and Windows Server licences, VAT included, are listed by Server Hub, our trading division, and its guide to genuine Windows and Office licences versus grey-market keys (opens serverhub.co.za) explains the OEM, retail and ROK options. What drives the cost:
Licence type. A Windows 11 Pro licence costs least as OEM on a new PC, and more as a retail licence or a later upgrade. A Windows licence price far below the market is almost always a grey-market volume key that Microsoft can deactivate.- Subscription or perpetual. An MS Office licence is a one-off cost for perpetual Office and a recurring cost for Microsoft 365; an O365 licence cost depends on your plan mix, not a single figure.
- Billing term. Monthly subscriptions flex with headcount; annual terms usually cost less per month and fix the price for the year.
- Cores and connections. Windows Server, SQL Server pricing and VMware scale with physical cores; CALs scale with users or devices; Microsoft Project licence cost scales with the planners you name.
- Waste. Unassigned and idle licences are the easiest saving, and a licence review usually finds them.
We quote every licence as its own line, ex VAT and incl. VAT, with the term and billing cycle stated.
Last reviewed: September 2026.
How we manage licences for you
- Supply. Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace licences, monthly or annually, registered to your tenant, and Windows, Office and Windows Server licences through Server Hub.
- Assign and reclaim. New staff get the right licence on day one, and leavers' licences are reclaimed rather than left billing.
- Renewals calendar. Early notice before every renewal and true-up, with a recommendation to renew, reduce or change.
- Licence register and reporting. One register of what you own, what is assigned and what is used, reported at the monthly service review.
- Audit support. Evidence packs and reconciliations when a vendor asks, and remediation of any shortfall.
Licence management sits alongside IT procurement and lifecycle management and device management, so hardware, software and users stay in step.
Governance, compliance, procurement and continuity
- Governance and reporting. A licence register, a monthly position report, approval by your named budget holder before any purchase, and a clear escalation route for audit notices.
- Compliance. Licence evidence ready for auditors. King IV Principle 12 makes technology and information governance a board responsibility, and software assets are part of it. For public bodies, licences bought through the proper process and idle subscriptions caught early help avoid fruitless and wasteful expenditure under the PFMA and MFMA. Licence tools read user and device data, so POPIA controls apply to them too.
- Procurement. Level 1 B-BBEE contributor (sworn affidavit available on request), giving buyers 135% procurement recognition. Company documents, CSD supplier number and tax compliance status are available on request, and we complete SBD forms when a bid requires them. Buy by purchase order or tender; see company facts.
- Continuity. Licences, tenants and volume agreements are registered to your organisation, not to us. You hold the admin credentials, and at exit we hand over the register, the agreements and the proof of purchase.